


Oh, What I'd Give to be Right Here with You

by MegsRiann



Category: Strike Back
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-28
Updated: 2019-05-28
Packaged: 2020-03-20 15:04:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,980
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18995032
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MegsRiann/pseuds/MegsRiann
Summary: From the prompt "Character finds themselves living a perfectly ordinary life for some reason"





	Oh, What I'd Give to be Right Here with You

"Michael. Michael, wake up." 

Stonebridge groaned as he was shaken awake. He mumbled something nonsensical, then burrowed a bit deeper into his nice, warm bed. 

"Michael, I mean it. It's your turn, I am not getting up again. Wake up." 

Michael blew out a breath, paused, and sat up in his place. His sleep-addled brain finally registered the voice beside him. He turned too quickly and ended up blinking to rid himself of the flash of dizziness. He stared with disbelief at the woman curled up next to him. "Kerry?" 

She shifted, pulling her head away from the pillow. "What? I've gotten up for her for the past three days. I think you can manage one night." 

"Kerry." 

She sighed and absently shoved at his thigh, trying to urge him out of the bed. 

_"Kerry."_

"Oh, for fuck's sake, Michael! Get out of bed and get your daughter to stop crying so I can go back to sleep!" 

"My…" Just then the sound of a child crying came to his attention. _'What the hell is going on?'_ His mind raced as he stumbled out of the bed and down the hall. He couldn't help but notice he was in the house on base, where Kerry and him had planned on raising their child. _'But Kerry is dead. And so is…. What is happening?'_

None of this made any sense, but yet, he followed the crying to another room, the room that was supposed to be her room. Sure enough, when he pushed the door open, there was a little girl standing up in the crib, wailing. He froze in the doorway for a second before pushing through. Michael quickly crossed the room and reached his arms out. "Hey, sweetheart. It's alright. What's the matter, little one?" He rocked the little girl in his arms and shushed her. It didn't take long for the small curly-haired blonde to quiet down. He breathed in deep, resting his face against her head. He may not know what's going on, but he is going to take every second he can with his wife and daughter. 

\------------------------- 

"Michael?" Once again, the soldier is nudged awake. He shook his head and turned to look at Kerry, feeling another pang of guilt and pain as it hit him that the woman should be dead. "Why didn't you come back to bed?" 

He inhaled and looked around, realizing he had fallen asleep while rocking the little girl. He rubbed the still-sleeping child's back and smiled at his wife. "I just wanted to hold her for a while. Must've fallen asleep." He whispered back. 

Kerry smiled sweetly, "Well, don't let her sleep too much longer, or she won't want her nap." 

Ten minutes later saw Michael carrying the little girl, now awake, down to the kitchen where his wife was cooking. 

He hesitated just briefly before stepping through the doorway into their kitchen, where he immediately clocked a high chair at the table and a baby gate near the outside door. He felt his stomach drop and wrapped his free arm around the little girl, not ready to put her down. He dropped a kiss on his still-alive wife's shoulder as he moved past her. 

"Love? Are you alright? You've been very quiet." Kerry asked, bringing her husband out of his thoughts. 

"Hmm? Yes, I'm fine, darling. Just thinking." He smiled as he adjusted the baby. As he realized Kerry had finished making breakfast, he reluctantly deposited her in the high chair before helping his wife bring everything to the table. 

"What about you, Ella? Are you hungry, sweetheart?" 

The little girl giggled when she saw her mother coming over with a plate for her. Michael's heart seemed to simultaneously leap and stop as he took in the sight. 

Upon finishing their breakfast, they quickly cleaned up and moved to the living room floor, where Ella began grabbing toys to show her parents. 

Michael couldn't stop smiling. 

\------------------------- 

The soldier couldn't remember a day in his life that he felt as content as this one. He spent the whole day with his girls, playing and helping around the house. As night approached, he found himself once again sitting in the nursery rocking chair. He'd managed to get the little girl to sleep quite a while ago, but he couldn't bring himself to put her down, fearing that if he did, he'd wake up and she'd never have existed. 

"Michael?" Kerry whispered from the doorway. She stood timidly, tucked part-way behind the door as she motioned for him to put the baby in the crib. 

He frowned in confusion before doing so, soon following his wife down the hall to their own room. "Is everything alright?" 

"That's what I wanted to ask you. You've been acting very strange today. Did something happen?" 

He took a deep breath, trying to quell the churning inside his stomach. He forced a smile. "Nothing happened." Michael took a few steps forward, gently draping his arms around his wife, pulling her into his chest. "I'm just tired. I wanted a day with just the two of you, since I had it off." 

He could feel Kerry smiling and couldn't resist holding her a little tighter, breathing in her scent. He reluctantly released her when he could feel her pulling back. As she looked into his eyes with concern, he drew up another smile, hoping she wouldn't question him again. 

Minutes later, the couple was settling into bed and Michael was once again agonizing over the thought of waking up with no family left alive. He did his best to push the thoughts of Damien Scott and Section 20 out of his mind as he trailed his left hand up his wife's back, lightly rubbing as she drifted to sleep. Kerry gave a soft sigh of contentment and Michael decided he would lie awake all night, just watching the woman he loved, because despite all the ways he had hurt her, he did indeed love her. If all it took to keep his family was to stay awake forever, he would certainly find a way. 

He cursed himself as soon as he was awake enough to realize he had fallen asleep. _Shit._ He didn't have to open his eyes to realize he was alone in bed. Suddenly, tears began to prick at his eyes, though he forced them down along with the burning resentment and pain building in his chest. He forced himself out of bed and into the hall, making his way to the kitchen, and stopped mid-step as he saw the petite blonde. He closed his eyes, leaning against the door frame as he swallowed against the lump in his throat. _It's real._

Unintelligible child blabber alerted the mother to his presence as the near-one year old reached for her father. Kerry turned and smiled, kissing her husband as she handed the baby off to him. 

Michael cuddled his daughter close to his chest once again, hardly able to believe she existed. There was still a hurricane cloud of doubt in his mind, courtesy of his inability to remember any of Ella's life before the previous day. 

"-later today." 

His attention snapped back to the woman. "What?" 

"I said, 'Don't forget that the technical repair man is stopping by later today.' I have errands to run so I may not be here when he arrives." 

He nods in understanding, lightly bouncing the little girl, trying to get her to giggle again. 

Hours later, Ella was just beginning to doze off as her father rocked her, until the doorbell chime rang out through the small house. She jolted awake at the intrusion, looking for any way to avoid her nap. Michael cursed under his breath, adjusting his hold on her as he stood to get the door. He opened the door, preparing to greet the IT technician but instead froze in shock at the sight before him. 

"Damien?" 

"Sorry?" After a beat of silence, the man continued. "Erm, my name is Scott Keller. I'm with Whalen Repair Service. The memo said the power outages around the area totally knocked out your internet?" 

Michael closed his eyes, nodded his head, and took another look. The man standing in front of him was still identical to his partner. "Ye-Yes. It's been out for a few days. But it's been causing problems for weeks." At least, that's what he remembers Kerry saying. 

Damien- _no_ -Scott Keller nodded and stepped through the door, gesturing for Michael to lead him to the cables. Over the next half hour, Michael hovered near the man, trying to make sense of everything going on at the moment. He left once to put Ella in her crib after she finally gave in to her tiredness. Upon returning, he tried not to stick too close. Instead, the Brit feigned comfort in an armchair with a clear view to the repairman. 

He let his mind drift over the past couple of years, from the moment he met the callous American to becoming friends to saving his ass all those times. 

_"Sitrep. Need you to talk to me, buddy."_

Michael needed to once again snap back to reality, jerking slightly when the vision of his partner standing over him shifted to show the IT-version of Damien standing a few feet in front of him. "Uh, sorry, what was that?" 

"I said that I reset the connection to a different tower, that should clear up your issues. If it causes anymore problems, just call in again and I'll come back out." With that, the man gave a nod as well as a goodbye and left. 

Michael frowned, still seated. He could've sworn…For just a minute, he had felt outside of himself. Groggy, unable to move, with the scent of gunpowder and blood in his nose, Damien hovering over him. Rather than dwell on the unsettling feeling, he got up and threw a load of wash in, swept the kitchen, and tidied up as much as he could while he waited for the kid to wake up. 

\------------------------- 

_"Mikey, you with me? I need you to answer me, buddy."_

He felt like he was suspended in Jell-O. His entire body was in pain, as if all his nerve endings were on fire. He tried to turn his head to find the source of his partner's voice but found he couldn't move. Michael had to struggle to draw in a breath. He exhaled and drew in another, feeling like any shred of energy he had was gone. He felt himself drifting out of consciousness once again when there was a violent ringing in his ears. 

_"Come on, buddy. Talk to me."_

He tried to respond but he couldn't form words any more than he could move. His vision swam again, his eyes desperately trying to focus on anything. His right arm jerked down and he tried to focus on bringing it under his control so he had some sense of defense. The jerk was repeated and his eyes picked up the blurred features of a man. He tried again to speak, this time managing to open his mouth and form some type of sound. 

The blurry features became a slightly clearer face as Damien leaned in closer, smiling. 

_"Hey Mikey. I'm going to get you out of here."_

The other man continued tugging on the ties restraining Michael. The cloudiness in his head made it impossible for him to help, hardly able to even remain conscious. He let out a groan as the piercing ringing returned, drowning out everything else as his eyesight turned black and his partner's voice and touch faded out of reach. 

Michael jerked awake at the sound of an alarm, once again in his bed at home, Kerry sleeping beside him. He stumbled into the bathroom, dropping to his knees to vomit as his head spun and his stomach churned. A few minutes later, he finally dropped backwards to lean against the cool tub, resting his head against his arm propped up by his right knee with his left leg spread out. He tried to take deep breaths to dampen the dizziness, not that it helped much. 

By the time Kerry awoke and was kneeling beside him, rubbing his shoulder, he felt marginally better. There was still a stabbing pain behind his eyes and the dizziness wouldn't dissipate, but at least he wasn't vomiting anymore. 

"Why don't you go lay back down and I'll bring you some tea," Kerry suggested quietly. 

He regretted shaking his head the second he did it. "No, I have to get ready for work." Luckily, he hadn't had to go in the past two days of this strange alternate world, but his time off was over. According to his calendar, his new group of recruits would be arriving for training, so he really had no choice but to go in. A shower relieved some of the tension and he popped a few Paracetamol on his way to get dressed. He managed a couple pieces of toast and pressed a kiss to his wife's temple as he collected his things and walked out the door. 

The headache lasted throughout the day, but he was able to push it out of his mind and focus on training. Hours passed achingly slowly with Michael feeling more and more out of sorts. The ringing in his ears would crescendo randomly, building immensely for several minutes after a long period of a dull static sensation. He fought through it for as long as he could but the last surge took him by surprise, forcing numbness throughout his body, almost like the neurotoxin post-Leatherby. Except wait, that didn't happen… Did it? Nothing made sense. His body felt like it was floating, but he could feel faceless men struggling with his weight, jostling him around. 

The ringing was still heavy in his ears, but a singular voice came into focus. _"Hang on, buddy. Getting you out. Try to help me out here, Mikey. Fuck, you're heavy."_

He tried to lift his head but he seemed to have no strength. His limbs wouldn't cooperate and his mouth felt like it was stuffed with cotton, but he needed to know. He used what little energy he had to force out a groan, "Kerry?" 

The hands on him paused. _"Fuck. Mikey, I'm sorry. Kerry's gone, I'm sorry."_

His mind struggled to piece everything together, his heart racing. He knew what it was like to live without Kerry, without their daughter, and he wasn't going back to that if he could help it. He'd stay away from Section 20, from Hanson, from anything that would threaten them. He'd only been here two and a half days, but he can't handle losing them again. 

His body was on fire but try as he might, he couldn't do anything to pull himself out. He hardly felt his legs scraping along the ground as he was half-dragged, half-carried along, clutched under the arms and around the chest. He tried harder to gain control as the space behind his eyelids darkened in a newly-familiar manner. His battle with consciousness was doomed. 

\------------------------- 

Thankfully, they were no longer moving when he came to. His arm felt like triple its weight, but at least he could move it. He drifted his hand around, bumping into something just a few inches away. He started swinging his hand in the other direction to get his bearings, but before it got far, a warm hand wrapped around his wrist. Michael opened his eyes but was unable to see in the dull lighting with his blurred vision. He took in his surroundings as much as he could. The hand holding him was firm, but not gripping tight, so it wasn't someone worried about how he'll act. He was lying flat on his back, but he was warm. That means he's probably not about to be cut open for organ harvest, which is always a good sign. The smell was achingly familiar, gunpowder, tobacco, cheap whiskey. He twisted his arm slightly, feeling the hand loosen just enough to allow his movement. He tried opening his mouth to speak, but his tongue was heavy and his throat was dry as the desert he once parachuted into. 

He heard something rustling and a chair creak. Another hand joined the first, this one resting on his bicep. "Mikey?" The voice was soft and while it brought relief, it simultaneously triggered a crushing pain in his heart, impeding his lungs. As he drew in rapid, shuddering breaths, the hand on his arm moved to rest over his heart. "Just breathe, buddy. We're at the hospital. It's fine, just breathe." 

Michael twisted his arm so that he could grab at the other man's elbow. He forced his eyes to stay open until they focused and he was able to see his partner. His throat was too dry for him to speak so he squeezed Damien's arm and tried to mouth the words. Luckily, Damien understood what he wanted and hurried to get him some water. After a couple sips, he tried again. 

"Happened?" 

"Wha-Um, oh. Warehouse was rigged, blew right after we went in. You were grabbed by the goons, we got you back." He shifted in his chair. "You had an IV in you, but Doc said it was just a sedative." When Michael didn't immediately respond, he continued. "You, uh, you kept calling for Kerry. You wanna tell me what that was about?" 

"Not particularly." He talked anyway, keeping the story as short as possible to spare his voice, but still taking several minutes to walk his friend through what he had experienced. When he finished, the two sat in silence, Michael thoroughly exhausted from his ordeal. He couldn't help drifting off to sleep and feeling the tiniest sliver of hope that he'd end up back with his girls.


End file.
